# Colors that you really, violently hate **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 12, 2009, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-that-you-really-violently-hate/517330 "2009-11-12T17:28:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![gang\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f07891/32.png) [@gang\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gang_green)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-that-you-really-violently-hate/517330/41 "2009-11-13T20:02:01Z")
Now, now. Why the hate for mauve? Things would be a lot less colorful if it hadn’t come along. From [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauve): > [@](#): > > Mauve was first named in 1856. Chemist Sir William Henry Perkin, then eighteen, was attempting to create artificial quinine. An unexpected residue caught his eye, which turned out to be the first aniline dye – specifically, mauveine, sometimes called aniline purple. Perkin was so successful in recommending his discovery to the dyestuffs industry that his biography by Simon Garfield is titled Mauve (2000)[2]. As for colors I hate, I’m looking at one now. Industrial beige, which is the color of my work phone. It’s that yellowish tan beige sun-faded ugh of a color. Bleagh. Khaki. Incredibly dull. Olive green. Actually, most of the yellow/green combos. The light ones are annoying, the bright ones induce eye fatigue, and the dark ones make me nauseous. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-that-you-really-violently-hate/517330/42 "2009-11-13T20:15:27Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Oh my word… PINK. > > The modern girlie obsession with pink makes me want to vomit. What is it with women these days? All little girls want to wear nothing but pink, women frequently say pink is their favourite colour, it drives me bonkers, like all women have brains like Barbie. Where’s individualism gone? Actually, I could happily start a pit thread on this subject. > > I’m sure pink never existed when I was a little girl. I don’t remember any of my friends wearing pink, or having a pink bedroom (mind you this was the 70s - we were all in brown and orange). I’m not a typical girly-girl nor was I exposed to a lot of commercial “girl” stuff as a kid, but when it came down to it, I would still choose pink as my favorite color. 😕 My 70s curtains had orange and brown but also pink, and I got a deep pink shag rug for in my room. I still don’t get it, as my favorites since then have been bold or deep colors on the non-pink side. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-that-you-really-violently-hate/517330/43 "2009-11-13T20:17:00Z")
> [@Angel\_of\_Doubt](#): > > Our walls were painted by my fiancee’s daughter, long before we moved in, a kind of yellowy greenish brown. It can only be described as “baby poo”, especially in the bathroom where the lights are kind of yellowy. I suppose it inspires one to take a crap, though. Maybe she meant it to be a masculine color, but hell, he’s blind and I’m the one who has to look at it. When I was in high school and worked on the stage crew for our musicals, we knew what to mix up if we were told to paint some area “baby shit” color. I can’t for the life of me figure out why someone would intentionally put that in a **house**. Chartreuse isn’t hard to remember the color match if you know the liqueur - specifically, the classic green one, and not their milder yellow version. Plus I love the color’s name because there’s a classic Bloom County strip in which some of the guys are trying to figure out women, and one of them is wondering what “feminine protection” is. The questioning possibility offered is, “A chartreuse flamethrower?!” I used to use that phrase with my husband (also a fan of the strip) as a joking code for what I needed at the store. I wasn’t embarrassed to say “tampons” but it’s just funny. 😃 Not a fan of neon anything (except actual neon signage) or jaundiced yellows. Bright little-girl-pink aisles full of toys make me depressed, too. As a girl I had blocks and a big metal dumptruck and metal tractor and Hot Wheels cars - **and** dolls and Barbie. Because that’s what I wanted and asked for. Not pink pink pink pink (lavender accent) pink pink pink. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-that-you-really-violently-hate/517330/44 "2009-11-13T20:55:48Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > You also think it should be a shade of pink, huh? No, more a maroonish color. Wait, _that_’s the color I forgot to put on my hate list yesterday. Maroon. PS. Vermillion should be green. Period. ---
**Author:** ![Chum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3ab097/32.png) [@Chum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chum)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-that-you-really-violently-hate/517330/45 "2009-11-13T21:36:34Z")
I don’t know what to call this color, but it’s kind of a muddy purplish-red. It’s gross. A close hex is #6D3949. For some reason, I imagine that intestines are this color. The exposed pipes and metal beams at my office are painted this color, and that makes me sad, but not rageful. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-that-you-really-violently-hate/517330/46 "2009-11-13T21:58:36Z")
> [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Me, I hate a certain shade of orange - that cool, pale, pinky [circus peanut](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Dq9xOrW6GM4/Sot35jEUXrI/AAAAAAAAD98/eaGc6An0uzE/s400/circus+peanuts.JPG) color. That’s the “Oh shit I put bleach in with a colored shirt” color. ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-that-you-really-violently-hate/517330/47 "2009-11-13T22:27:02Z")
> [@Q.N.Jones](#): > > Ugh. You people are the reason that most clothing comes in mainly neutral colors (white, ivory, black, red, brown, navy blue, gray), plus one or two totally pedestrian shades (usually of green, blue, or purple) that happen to be in fashion in a given season. I have to hunt in the boutique lines to find the really interesting colors. See, I like [jewel tones](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3114/2772824503_7a02507f5c.jpg), rich, deep shades that bring out the best in just about any skintone. If I were to find clothing in any of those colors, I would buy and wear them quite gladly. It’s the [pastel colors](http://www.balloonplanet.com/balloons/colorchartpastel.php) that look pale and sickly. Also, how on earth is red a neutral? ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-that-you-really-violently-hate/517330/48 "2009-11-13T22:31:12Z")
There’s this yecchy greyish-pinkish-brown they used to paint the back halls and work spaces in places like department stores and hotels. Kind of a medium puke color. You know? ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-that-you-really-violently-hate/517330/49 "2009-11-13T22:41:28Z")
> [@Maiira](#): > > See, I like [jewel tones](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3114/2772824503_7a02507f5c.jpg), rich, deep shades that bring out the best in just about any skintone. If I were to find clothing in any of those colors, I would buy and wear them quite gladly. It’s the [pastel colors](http://www.balloonplanet.com/balloons/colorchartpastel.php) that look pale and sickly. Me too, I don’t like most neutrals either, aside from black - I just don’t have the same I hate for those as I have for lilac. I dislike most pastels, they seem like they lack the conviction to be real colors. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-that-you-really-violently-hate/517330/50 "2009-11-13T23:33:03Z")
I dislike orange because my mom painted my walls that color when I was a kid and had to share a bedroom with my brother. But I really, really, really like lavender and blue. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2009, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-that-you-really-violently-hate/517330/51 "2009-11-14T01:58:44Z")
My first school uniform was a disgusting shade of green, they called it “bottle green” but the google image search comes up with something brighter. It was loathsome and the alternatives in fashion at the time for school clothing were nearly as bad, maroon and navy. I don’t think I have ever or would ever buy any item of clothing in any shade of dark green. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2009, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-that-you-really-violently-hate/517330/52 "2009-11-14T04:03:05Z")
> [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](#): > > My first school uniform was a disgusting shade of green, they called it “bottle green” but the google image search comes up with something brighter. It was loathsome and the alternatives in fashion at the time for school clothing were nearly as bad, maroon and navy. > > I don’t think I have ever or would ever buy any item of clothing in any shade of dark green. :::snicker::: - I have a deep and abiding loathing of anything PLAID, for exactly the same reason. My grade school uniform was an ugly plaid jumper. To this day, Catholic school uniforms seem to be mandated to be ugly plaid jumpers (in, admittedly, _slightly_ varying cuts and combinations of ugly colors). I wonder if there’s some biblical cite, or if it’s a Vatican mandate. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2009, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-that-you-really-violently-hate/517330/53 "2009-11-14T15:26:12Z")
About plaid Catholic school uniforms, I am assuming they picked plaid as a base, suitable for both boys and girls, can be easily combined with coordinating shirts or pants. Solids, like navy blue, unless bought from the same maker at the same store at the same time, are hard to match up, and you might end up with school uniforms in every hue from might-as-well-be-black to royal blue. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2009, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-that-you-really-violently-hate/517330/54 "2009-11-14T15:38:21Z")
When I was thirteen, I won a stuffed bear at a midway in the Circus Circus in Las Vegas. I asked for a blue one. They handed me a bear [roughly this](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.nancysknitknacks.com/Bottle%2520Green%252072.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.nancysknitknacks.com/digit_solid_yarn.htm&usg=__bpjsw8_epohEusupDj_Joe976-U=&h=318&w=288&sz=60&hl=en&start=6&um=1&tbnid=cI91tnWUZA0VoM:&tbnh=118&tbnw=107&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbottle%2Bgreen%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26um%3D1) color. I was disapointed, but walked off anyway. After a couple of minutes, however, I started to feel strange. Sick. The bear was somehow hurting my eyes and I was getting dizzy. I went back to the booth and exchanged him for a red-orange bear. I was fine after that. I’m convinced that the pale horse who spreads death in the end times will be a lighter color of that damn bear. ---
**Author:** ![4everkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/76d3ee/32.png) [@4everkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/4everkid)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2009, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-that-you-really-violently-hate/517330/55 "2009-11-14T19:02:49Z")
As an artist, I generally prefer my colors rich and vivid. Topping my hate list: DUSTY BLUE - the color of the entire 80’s decade, and its counterpart, MAUVE. Hate 'em both, and the obnoxious country ducks they bring to mind. While I love a rich, true, juicy orange color, all other shades of orange should be banished. Like Heart of Dorkness, I despise CIRCUS PEANUT ORANGE, and its ugly sister YELLOW ORANGE, or what I refer to as CHEESE COLOR. SALMON, PEACH…everything in the orange family except true orange are hideous. I have a milder hatred for TEAL. On rare occasions, in the right context, I can live with it. I agree with Malleus, Incus, Stapes!, that chartreuse sounds like it should be the name of a different color. It sounds like a shade of red. I love green - all shades of it. But I agree that there is something about BOTTLE GREEN that bothers me. It’s as if the color has the potential to be a nice shade of dark green, but it’s had the life sucked out of it. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2009, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-that-you-really-violently-hate/517330/56 "2009-11-14T23:03:37Z")
> [@Small\_Hen](#): > > When I was thirteen, I won a stuffed bear at a midway in the Circus Circus in Las Vegas. I asked for a blue one. They handed me a bear [roughly this](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.nancysknitknacks.com/Bottle%2520Green%252072.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.nancysknitknacks.com/digit_solid_yarn.htm&usg=__bpjsw8_epohEusupDj_Joe976-U=&h=318&w=288&sz=60&hl=en&start=6&um=1&tbnid=cI91tnWUZA0VoM:&tbnh=118&tbnw=107&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbottle%2Bgreen%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26um%3D1) color. I was disapointed, but walked off anyway. After a couple of minutes, however, I started to feel strange. Sick. The bear was somehow hurting my eyes and I was getting dizzy. I went back to the booth and exchanged him for a red-orange bear. I was fine after that. > > I’m convinced that the pale horse who spreads death in the end times will be a lighter color of that damn bear. THAT’S the dark teal I was thinking of! ETA: One of them, anyway. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-that-you-really-violently-hate/517330.md?page=2)